The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The main highlight of the 117th National Day Address by His Majesty The King was the mention of ‘The Diamond Strategy’, where the current ‘One Country, Two Systems’ of the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) would converge back into ‘One Country, One System,’ where innovations emerging from the GMC must be mirrored across the rest of Bhutan for the nation to succeed as a whole (see pg. 4 and 5 for entire Royal Address).
His Majesty said this convergence will only succeed with parallel reforms throughout the country in strengthening democracy, aligning the bureaucracy with future needs, improving laws, and reforming the education system to empower people.
Taking inspiration and guidance from His Majesty’s Address, the government, Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) and the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) are already brainstorming and preparing for the main points in the Diamond Strategy.
Government
In the first Cabinet meeting after the 117th National Day Address on 19th December, after finishing the official Cabinet business, the Prime Minister brought up the 117th National Day Address and the Diamond Strategy with the ministers present.
A source said, “The Prime Minister said we have to take the address very seriously.”
The PM instructed the Minister of Industries Commerce and Employment to submit reports within a month on where reforms can be brought, and where red tape can be reduced. The minister was chosen as the economic issues are mostly related to the ministry, in terms of trade, industry and labour.
In terms of corporate governance, PM instructed the MoICE Minister to bring Tourism under this, and see where it can be strengthened.
The source said PM also told the ministers that, politically, the bar will be higher in the future with the need for more capable politicians.
While the main instruction was to the MoICE Minister, the reforms and reduction of red tape will touch all ministries, and so there will be a muti-sectoral approach.
MoICE, under advice from the Economic Development Board, has been looking at cutting down unnecessary procedures and red tape, but the Royal Address should take things to a whole new level, which is also the need of the hour.
The President of the Bhutan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCCI), Tandy Wangchuk, said the address, especially on the economy, is a blessing in disguise as many people are frustrated with the system.
“We wish the government will take serious note of the remarks made by His Majesty,” he said.
When it comes to the private sector, the BCCI President said there is a link with all ministries, and when it comes to policies, things like the Economic Development Policy, Foreign Direct Investment Policy, other laws and Regulatory processes need to improve.
BCCI President gave two examples. He said the FDI policy gives priority to charcoal, which is imported in huge numbers by industries, but he said the Forest Department does not give clearance.
Another example, he said, is that there is a lot of interest to invest in schools and colleges in Bhutan, but there is no framework for it and how it can happen.
When it comes to red tape, the BCCI President said that while laws are passed by the Parliament, the bureaucrats frame the rules, and often the rules are so numerous and restrictive that they even defeat the very purpose and intention of the Act.
Education
The Prime Minister is also understood to have issued directives to the Education and Skills Development Minister in line with His Majesty’s focus on reforming the education system to empower people as a part of the Diamond Strategy.
MoESD has come up with the National Education Policy which was approved recently by the Cabinet (see separate story on pg. 1) and draws heavily from the Royal Kasho on Education Reform with the main aim of improving the quality of education to 21st century international standards by improving curriculum, teacher quality and incorporating tech and the latest developments.
Better education will mean better productivity and better productivity will mean better wages.
When it comes to education, this is one of the 7 key priority areas in GMC, and this is not just about attracting educational institutions to Gelephu, but also looking at how GMC can help encourage partnerships with existing institutes. Recently the GMC put the Stockholm School of Economics in touch with RIGSS and they now have a collaboration.
ECB
His Majesty talking about Democracy with meritocracy said that His Majesty The Fourth King set high standards for the nation during the introduction of democracy in 2008 and among them was a Bachelor’s degree requirement for Parliament candidates to uphold meritocratic principles.
His Majesty said the introduction of the Constitution and electoral process in 2008 was just the beginning, not the realization of His Majesty’s vision.
His Majesty said, “Our ultimate goal is a democracy rooted in meritocracy, where the most capable and experienced individuals lead the nation.”
Taking inspiration from the above, ECB has already started working. An ECB official said that ECB has decoded the Address, and will work on the issue with the aim of ensuring better quality candidates in future elections.
The official said it is premature to comment on what will exactly happen, but ECB is brainstorming at the moment.
In the 2023 General Elections, ECB already introduced the requirement to have National Council candidates with 10 years of work experience, and it was 5 years for National Assembly candidates.
ECB will be expected to put in additional filters to ensure that people get to choose from quality candidates.
RCSC
RCSC is in the process of making its 10-Year-Roadmap with the main focus on the coming five years, and now His Majesty’s Address on creating an Enlightened Entrepreneurial Bureaucracy within the next 10 years to ensure successful convergence is now going to become a key part of it.
His Majesty said the bureaucracy must be agile enough to keep up with the rapid changes and innovations arising from the GMC.
A RCSC official said that when the new Commission came in during the Dhar ceremony, His Majesty had conveyed the Royal vision.
The official said that RCSC is in the process of decoding the Address, and then it will become a part of the 10-year strategic roadmap.
A four-decade strategy
A source said that the Diamond Strategy will likely play out over 42 years or 4 decades with the first 21 years being focused on creating the GMC and certain parallel reforms in rest of Bhutan under the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ policy and the next 21 years being focused in bringing the rest of Bhutan at par with the best innovations and practices in GMC under ‘One Country, One System.’
An observer said, “We need to diverge for now as it will be very complicated to implement GMC in 20 Dzongkhags, and so the GMC will serve as Bhutan’s interface to the rest of the world. This will allow us to ringfence the project and so control and expedite things.”
When it comes to the political aspect, the concern is that GMC will be opening up to the cutting edge of tech and finance, venture capitalists, digital currency etc., and so when the time for convergence comes the government, at the time, should not be composed of people who are there by electoral luck, but are instead qualified and competent enough to merge the two systems into one.
An example of the meritocratic culture in people taking on ministerial positions come from countries, like Singapore, where ministers come highly qualified and experienced and are ready to hit the ground running.
His Majesty said in Bhutan, we must ensure that laws, particularly those affecting the economy, are enacted swiftly and amended when necessary to create an agile, responsive legal system that fosters progress rather than impedes it. Such a system will be essential to ensure the smooth convergence of the GMC with the rest of Bhutan.
As seen from above, the focus will be more on those laws that are of an economic nature.
The source said that GMC will be underpinned by a strong private sector, and so, there should not be restrictive regulations in the rest of Bhutan that hampers economic growth.
